The only way to tell if your horse has ulcers is to have him checked by a veterinarian with a three-meter endoscope that can get into the horse's stomach," says Murray. In this way the veterinarian can detect whether a horse does, indeed, have ulcers. He also can see how severe they are.
Prior to submitting to an endoscopic examination for ulcers, a horse will have his food withheld for about 12 hours, and he won't be allowed to drink water for about six hours before the exam. Then the veterinarian will insert the flexible endoscope through the horse's esophagus and into his stomach, where the veterinarian will view any ulcers.
"The treatment of ulcers is important because it is essential to use a treatment that will really work," Murray says. "The best, and most useful treatment at the moment of EGUS is omeprazole, which is available under the brand name of Gastrogard for horses." (For people, omeprazole is available under the trade name Prilosec.)
Within the body, omeprazole works by shutting down some of the stomach cells' ability to produce large quantities of hydrochloric acid, thus giving an equine ulcer time to heal. In contrast, oral antacids like Maalox and Mylanta work to neutralize stomach acid that already has been produced.
A third type of medication, known as an H2 blocker, competes with the compound histamine, which is naturally secreted by body tissues, so that it cannot stimulate stomach cells to produce acid. H2 blockers include cimetidine (Tagamet), ranitidine (Zantac) and famotidine (Pepcid AC).
Murray chooses to use omeprazole for three reasons: First, it is the only treatment for EGUS currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Secondly, the drug shuts down acid secretion by knocking out the acid pumps, as opposed to competing with the stimulant. Third, omeprazole is easiest to administer than other drugs. A paste that comes in a tube, omeprazole is given once a day.
Michael J. Murray, DVM, professor and Adelaide C. Riggs Chair in Equine Medicine at the Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center in Leesburg, Virginia.
From Dressage Today magazine.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Horse Gastric Ulcer Syndrome can be Controlled with Diet
December 13, 2007
Writer(s): Edith Chenault, 979-845-2886 ,echenaul@ag.tamu.edu
Contact(s): Dr. Pete Gibbs, 979-845-3579, PGibbs@ag.tamu.edu
COLLEGE STATION – A change in diet can be good for what ails you – even if you are a horse.
Research from Texas A&M University showed that feeding alfalfa to horses that have the potential to be high performers either prevented or was therapeutic in treating stomach ulcers.
“Something in alfalfa hay tends to buffer acid production,” said Dr. Pete Gibbs, Extension horse specialist.
Thirty percent of the 1 million horses in Texas are used in racing, showing and competitive performance, Gibbs said.
Up to 90 percent of racehorses and more than 50 percent of arena performance horses have ulcers of varying severity, he said.
When they have ulcers, horses “don’t eat as well, work as well and don’t feel as good,” Gibbs said.
Feeding grain, confinement, exercise and overall environmental stress factors are thought to cause ulcers, he said. Studies have shown that horses will heal if provided less acidic diets.
The recent research project in the department of animal science’s equine science program was part of Travis Lybbert’s master’s degree thesis in collaboration with the College of Veterinary Medicine. Gibbs served on Lybbert’s academic research committee.
In the research, 24 quarter horses from 12-16 months old were separated into two treatment groups. One group was fed Bermuda grass hay and the other fed alfalfa hay to meet the daily roughage needs. The yearlings received forced exercise during the study.
The horses were examined internally with an endoscope at the beginning and end of two 28-day trials.
It’s commonly thought that horses turned out on pastures are better off than those that are confined. However, if grass hay is the only hay they are fed, horses can still get gastric ulcers, he said.
In this study, ulcer scores increased when alfalfa was removed from the horses’ diets, and they were turned out on pasture. Under the ulcer-scoring system, 0 signified no ulcers, with severity increasing to level 4.
Horse owners — especially those with performance horses — have one of two options, Gibbs said.
They can give their horses a pharmaceutical product that will decrease acid production, he said. Or they can manage horses’ diets.
The second option does not stop acid production but offers buffering capabilities, Gibbs said. Further work is needed to look at horses with varying degrees of ulceration in order to better determine the full extent to which alfalfa or alfalfa-based products might help from a feeding management standpoint.
“Based on what we know right now — for horses that are kept in confinement, eating feed and getting forced exercise — it makes sense to consider some alfalfa as part of their diet,” he said.
Until further research is done, he recommends, horses weighing between 1,000-1,300 pounds should be fed about 1 pound of alfalfa after a grain meal.
This isn’t the first research conducted on gastric ulcers in horses, but it lays the groundwork for further research at Texas A&M, Gibbs said. The next study will investigate what it is about alfalfa and alfalfa products that lessens the occurrence and severity of horses’ ulcers.
Writer(s): Edith Chenault, 979-845-2886 ,echenaul@ag.tamu.edu
Contact(s): Dr. Pete Gibbs, 979-845-3579, PGibbs@ag.tamu.edu
COLLEGE STATION – A change in diet can be good for what ails you – even if you are a horse.
Research from Texas A&M University showed that feeding alfalfa to horses that have the potential to be high performers either prevented or was therapeutic in treating stomach ulcers.
“Something in alfalfa hay tends to buffer acid production,” said Dr. Pete Gibbs, Extension horse specialist.
Thirty percent of the 1 million horses in Texas are used in racing, showing and competitive performance, Gibbs said.
Up to 90 percent of racehorses and more than 50 percent of arena performance horses have ulcers of varying severity, he said.
When they have ulcers, horses “don’t eat as well, work as well and don’t feel as good,” Gibbs said.
Feeding grain, confinement, exercise and overall environmental stress factors are thought to cause ulcers, he said. Studies have shown that horses will heal if provided less acidic diets.
The recent research project in the department of animal science’s equine science program was part of Travis Lybbert’s master’s degree thesis in collaboration with the College of Veterinary Medicine. Gibbs served on Lybbert’s academic research committee.
In the research, 24 quarter horses from 12-16 months old were separated into two treatment groups. One group was fed Bermuda grass hay and the other fed alfalfa hay to meet the daily roughage needs. The yearlings received forced exercise during the study.
The horses were examined internally with an endoscope at the beginning and end of two 28-day trials.
It’s commonly thought that horses turned out on pastures are better off than those that are confined. However, if grass hay is the only hay they are fed, horses can still get gastric ulcers, he said.
In this study, ulcer scores increased when alfalfa was removed from the horses’ diets, and they were turned out on pasture. Under the ulcer-scoring system, 0 signified no ulcers, with severity increasing to level 4.
Horse owners — especially those with performance horses — have one of two options, Gibbs said.
They can give their horses a pharmaceutical product that will decrease acid production, he said. Or they can manage horses’ diets.
The second option does not stop acid production but offers buffering capabilities, Gibbs said. Further work is needed to look at horses with varying degrees of ulceration in order to better determine the full extent to which alfalfa or alfalfa-based products might help from a feeding management standpoint.
“Based on what we know right now — for horses that are kept in confinement, eating feed and getting forced exercise — it makes sense to consider some alfalfa as part of their diet,” he said.
Until further research is done, he recommends, horses weighing between 1,000-1,300 pounds should be fed about 1 pound of alfalfa after a grain meal.
This isn’t the first research conducted on gastric ulcers in horses, but it lays the groundwork for further research at Texas A&M, Gibbs said. The next study will investigate what it is about alfalfa and alfalfa products that lessens the occurrence and severity of horses’ ulcers.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Equine Endoscopy Procedures
CLICK PLAY AND WATCH ACTUAL PROCEDURES PERFORMED WITH OUR 3 METER VIDEOSCOPES AND RIGID TELESCOPE SYSTEMS!
1) TIEBACK SURGERY
2) UPPER RESPIRATORY TRACT SURGERY
3) EPIGLOTTIC ENTRAPMENT
4) GUTTURAL POUCH TYMPANY SURGERY
5) SINUSCOPY
6) LAPROSCOPY
Equine Endoscopy Procedures 3 meter videoscope
CLICK PLAY AND WATCH ACTUAL PROCEDURES PERFORMED WITH OUR 3 METER VIDEOSCOPES AND RIGID TELESCOPE SYSTEMS!
Septic temporo-mandibular joint procedure / Oesophagoscopy Gastroscopy / Arthroscopy & Tenoscopy / DDFT Penetration & Navicular Bursa Endoscopy / Digital Flexor Sheath Tenoscopy / Medial Femoro- Tibial Joint Arthroscopy
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